So, we’re hardcore into tomato season – they’re piling up on kitchen counters, break room tables, & your doorstep, thanks to midnight tomato drop-offs from your neighbors who are desperate to rid themselves of TMT syndrome – too many tomatoes.

There’s nothing like a real, honest-to-goodness perfectly ripe tomato. Such amazing flavor shames nearly every other salad ingredient, but the truth is, you can only eat so many slices covered in balsamic vinegar & basil. I’m not one to indulge in the insanity that is creating homemade canned tomato sauce (any child who’s been conned into cranking the tomato juicer-machine-thing knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about), but fresh tomato sauce is an indulgence I’m happy to dip into. All you need are a few ingredients & of course, a bunch of tomatoes!

Easy Tomato Sauce
What you’ll need:
tomatoes (the number is completely up to you, although I’d suggest 2-3 per person you’ll be serving)
balsamic vinegar
fresh herbs and/or Italian dressing (dried herbs will work in a pinch)
cookie sheet
parchment or aluminum foil

How to do it:
01 Pre-heat your oven to about 400°
02 Cover your cookie sheet in foil or parchment; your choice
03 Slice tomatoes in half; place on cookie sheet with seeds facing up
04 Poke herbs (rosemary, cilantro, sage, tarragon – you get the idea) into flesh of tomato (that sounds so gory!) – if you’re using dried herbs, just sprinkle them on
05 If desired, drizzle a bit (maybe one swipe per tomato half) of Italian dressing on top
06 Generously fill (it’ll splash over; perfectly okay!) & coat the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar
07 Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the skins are nice & tender – they should fall apart when pierced with a fork
08 When it’s done, pour everything into a pot. Mix it up!
09 Serve over pasta of your choice! Mix in a bit of mozzarella & fresh basil for a real treat. Enjoy!

PS: I picked up 2 new cookbooks over the weekend – once I get into playing, I’ll be sure to share my favorites & how I’ve modified them! :)

I suppose, technically, that these are “Yam Fries,” but that has a bit of an odd ring to it. Anyways, yay! Sweet potato fries! These are yummy, they’re healthy, & they’re really, really easy. They show up on some restaurant menus as a specialty, & I’ve really no idea why. You should make them tonight!

What you’ll need:
2-3 yams (I usually figure about one per person, so feel free to adjust as needed!)
seasoned salt (although a bit of regular salt will do if it’s all you have)
cinnamon
canola or olive oil

How to do it:
01 Peel the yams & then chop into fries of desired thickness. You’ll need a reasonably large knife to do this – yams can be a bit tough to cut.
02 Place into a large bowl; toss with olive oil. Make sure there’s a bit on every fry.
03 Toss fries with seasoned salt & cinnamon; perhaps two teaspoons of each.
04 Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Evenly spread fries on sheet; toss a bit more cinnamon on top.
05 Bake at 400° for about 30 minutes, or until desired crispiness. 2-3 times during the baking process, flip fries so they bake evenly.

» Be sure to stick around while they bake – they can burn pretty easily. Don’t panic if you see brown bits on your fries; it doesn’t mean they’re burnt. You’ll know the difference between those & actual burnt pieces – those are an obvious black. Adjust times & temperature as needed.

I usually eat mine as is, but many eat them with various sauces. I think the best one I’ve ever had was a caramel dip – you could pick up the apple caramel dip from the store, or try the one featured at Simply Recipes. Enjoy! :)

In a rather hilarious moment on Friends, Monica asks Phoebe for her grandmother’s famous cookie recipe as a wedding present. Sadly, the recipe was lost in the fire that destroyed Phoebe’s apartment, but Phoebe did find one last cookie from a batch she froze. Monica tries in vain to decode the recipe using her culinary skills, but in the end, everyone comes upon the realization that her grandmother actually uses the Nestle Tollhouse recipe. Watch the clip – it’s really quite funny.

I spent late yesterday afternoon making a batch of what I think are the best cookies, & they actually are not from the famous House of Toll; rather, it’s an adapted recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Now, I’ve burnt many a cookie in my day, but after many batches, I can proudly say I’ve got it just right. These simple cookies turn out perfect every time, with consistent shape, density, & taste.

When you cook, you can mess with ingredients, order, time, etc. As long as it tastes good & everything is cooked thoroughly, it doesn’t really matter. The key to perfect baking, however, is that, quite simply, you follow the recipe perfectly. I really admire people who can create their own cookies, cakes, & the like, because my track record when it comes to experimental baking is not nearly as good as my other culinary achievements. As such, you must follow this recipe 100% if you want the best cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine (you can also use canola or vegetable oil in a pinch)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated (regular) sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups walnuts (you can leave these out if you really hate nuts)

Special Equipment:
parchment paper
a small ice cream scoop (I use one similar to this)
electric mixer
(you’ll also need the usual cups & spoons, a large spoon for stirring, cookie sheets, & a big bowl)

Twelve Easy Steps:
01 Preheat oven to 375°
02 Soften butter/margarine in microwave for about 45 seconds
03 Combine butter/margarine, sugars, baking soda & salt in a large bowl using mixer. Scrape the sides as you go, to ensure proper mixing.
04 Add eggs & vanilla; mix thoroughly
05 Add 1 1/2 cups of flour; mix thoroughly
06 Add remaining cup flour, stirring thoroughly by hand
07 Add chocolate chip & walnuts; stir thoroughly by hand

08 Drop cookies onto parchment covered cookie sheets* (they really do work best) using the small ice cream scoop (mine is 1 1/2 inches across), keeping size & shape consistent. Don’t try to put too many on one sheet; usually 12 is perfect on a standard size cookie sheet.
09 Move oven racks to middle most slots; I recommend only baking two sheets at a time.
10 Bake for 8 minutes only; they’ll look a little lighter than you’d expect, & will still be a bit doughy. Never fear – once cool, they’ll be perfectly chewy.
11 Remove from oven & remove from cookie sheet as soon as possible – the parchment cools very quickly, & you should be able to move it, cookies & all, after a minute at most.
12. Repeat steps 8-11 until all cookies are baked! You’ll have between 5-6 dozen cookies to share with your favorite people (& make sure that you do!)
*if you don’t have parchment, but still yearn for chocolate chip goodness, be sure to leave your cookie sheet ungreased, & still remove them from the cookie sheet as fast as you can with a spatula.

Voila! Perfect cookies, every time. Everyone will want to know your secret – be sure to share! That being said, do let me know what you think after you’ve tried it out!

Over the weekend, I was finally able to read the latest issue of Body + Soul, by far my favorite magazine. This month features a collection of “25 Fast & Healthy Recipes” that are pared down to their basic ingredients & simplest instructions – basically, exactly what I want in a recipe. I never bother trying to make anything with a long list of odd ingredients I don’t have or several paragraphs of instruction. You shouldn’t need to work so hard to get delicious food, & as this lovely feature shows, you don’t have to!

Yesterday, I was busy with personal issues (I do detest that we are a nation dependent on automobiles), & was therefore unable to write, & so in lieu of the usual Monday cooking feature, enjoy this. I’m going to try nearly every recipe!

Believe it or not, ice cream is actually quite easy to make, although an ice cream maker is a definite plus. They sell them at Target for as inexpensive as $30, but you can also make pretty decent ice cream without a machine as well.

Since I haven’t made a lot of it myself, I thought I’d use this week’s entry in easy summer cooking as an index for ice cream recipes from around the internets!

» To begin, here’s a super simple Nutella Ice Cream recipe. You need just two ingredients: nutella & evaporated milk!

» Martha Stewart Living has a collection of recipes, including how to make Neapolitan & Pistachio varieties. Here, too, are some tips & tricks to get the perfect batch.

» Whole Food’s Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream is dairy- & gluten-free, & seems to be quite simple to modify. They suggest adding peaches or strawberries, but I think you could easily add chocolate chunks, nuts, or swap the vanilla extract for mint. Since I try to avoid dairy, this is the recipe I’d most like to try.

» Come fall, definitely try this recipe: Apple Cider Ice Cream. Sounds a bit complicated, but if it’s as good as it claims, it’d be totally worth it.

» Emeril’s Homemade Dulce de Leche Ice Cream has just five ingredients, & sounds simply divine.

» Another from Emeril, for the gourmet in all of us: Blue Cheese & Pear Ice Cream.

» Here’s a straightforward & easy recipe for Chocolate Ice Cream, courtesy of the Food Network.

» Peanut Butter Ice Cream is one of my favorite varieties, especially if you throw a bit of hot fudge on top.

» Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream for the minimalist, with only four ingredients. I don’t think it gets much more simple than that!

» I’ve had Lavender Ice Cream in the past, & it delicious. The flavors are so subtle, & just, mmm. So good.

» For all you raw fans out there, Whole Foods has a recipe for Raw Banana Ice Cream that sounds so good I might have to try it! It’s dairy- & gluten-free, vegetarian, & raw!

» Here’s something to try the next time you break out the waffle iron: Maple Ice Cream. Just make sure you don’t use the imitation chock full o’corn syrup variety.

» Alton Brown has a recipe for Serious Vanilla Ice Cream, which includes peach preserves!

» Not Eating Out in New York has a recipe for Carrot Curry Ice Cream. Care for an Asian spin on your favorite summertime treat?

» Finally, Food Network has an easy recipe to create Ice Cream Cake with what you’ve made! Enjoy!

Mmm; chips & salsa. So good, so easy, & yet it can be so costly! When it comes to chips, you have two options: get a bag of high-quality tortilla chips from your local store (I enjoy the blue corn chips, myself), or you can enjoy freshly made chips very easily!!

What you need*:
» Large pan for frying
» Bowl
» Paper towels
» Tongs

For the chips:
» 1 package corn tortillas, usually available near the cheese.
» oil of your choice (corn, vegetable, or canola works best!)
» salt

For the salsa:
» 2 large tomatoes, diced (the juiciest varieties are best – I like using Romas)
» 1 small red onion (or your favorite variety), diced
» 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
» 1 teaspoon salt
» 1 small jalapeno, diced, if desired

How to do it:
» Make the salsa first by combining all ingredients in a large bowl. Set in the fridge so all the juices & flavors mix together.

» Cut the tortillas into chips; you can get 6-8 chips from one tortilla.

» Using a large pan or electric fryer, heat 3-4 inches of oil. Place tortilla slices in oil a few at a time (depending upon size of pan), turning with tongs. They’ll be done in one or two minutes – don’t let them burn!

» Place tortillas on paper towels to dry. Keep them warm in your oven once dry!

*Other options include swapping out cilantro for fresh peaches, pineapple, raspberries, or mango, if you’d like! You can also add a clove or two or garlic if that’s your thing. Try it & see!